My Latest Experiments NB ColorFast . . .

Grazie wrote on 2/16/2013, 3:42 PM

This is ROUGH shot from a point overlooking the City of London. It's a complex speeded up zoom out. It was yesterday which we had a brilliant day of blue skies and deep contrasts. Everything kept moving.

I used the CF Mask for the sky and saturated the blues. The Mid-Tones, the foreground had their own mask and the shadows again and also used some of the Film Gamma too.

This has been a real work-flow eye-opener, and no mistake. It so straightforward and responsive to creative ideas.

Here yah go!

Grazie

Comments

Tom Pauncz wrote on 2/16/2013, 4:05 PM

Cool!
Tom

Editguy43 wrote on 2/16/2013, 9:35 PM

Grazie, That is really nice. A question for ya.. what camera are you using and whtat zoom does it have? That was quite a range..

Paul B

Grazie wrote on 2/16/2013, 10:02 PM

Canon PowerShotSX50 HS: 50x Optical - plus a 4x Digital gets you 200!!

Grazie

farss wrote on 2/17/2013, 12:21 AM

I realise that was the ROUGH. Now I want to see the POLISH because to be honest I preferred the shot with NBFC Off. The "lift" applied to the foreground made it look unnaturally washed out.

Bob.

kplo wrote on 2/17/2013, 12:23 AM

File wouldn't open for me in Win Media Player (XP S2)...
("Windows could not open this file")
Ken

Grazie wrote on 2/17/2013, 12:57 AM

It's all unnatural!

I'm glad you noticed the foreground "difference". What you're failing to take notice of, or maybe comment on, or I haven't explained carefully enough, is the simple way this plug "holds" areas of action using luminance masking. And that's one of the reasons I wanted to share. This was a truly luminance-challenging day, with the sweeping of the Sun, rushing strong and weak over a mixed illuminated fore- and background. I'm most impressed. Plus CF's easily get-at-able controls. It's like "painting" in watercolour, or better yet, Gauche!

Yes, I can reintroduce more definition and saturation in the foreground. I'll have a go. Thanks for the feedback Bob.

Grazie

Grazie wrote on 2/17/2013, 1:00 AM

Oh, Ken, I'm sorry. What do you suggest I can do? I could re-render as something else?

Thanks for taking interest. Tell me what alternative formats work for you - yeah?

Cheers

Grazie

farss wrote on 2/17/2013, 2:47 AM

"What you're failing to take notice of, or maybe comment on, or I haven't explained carefully enough, is the simple way this plug "holds" areas of action using luminance masking."

Oh no, I get that. Maybe I'm just getting a bit jaded by all the "magic" tools that are available to us at an affordable price.

Bob.

Grazie wrote on 2/17/2013, 3:10 AM

Maybe I'm just getting a bit jaded by all the "magic" tools that are available to us at an affordable price.

So would you LIKE to pay more?

And are you also inferring that good-to-honest science must be so hard and impenetrable to understand and apply, if it is to be worthy of experimentation, and, heaven forbid (!), inclusion in a PAID commission? If by "magic" you're implying that there is digital "slight of hand", and that there IS no reality in the tool I'm putting out here, and it will never take the place of a well illuminated scene; audio that is honed as best as it can be and so on so forth, then I kinda got that? But, but, but . . . . where is any of this to say that easiness shouldn't be combined with something even as pejorative as your use of the word "magic"?

I guess I'm not jaded enough not to spend money and try it out. Now, if I had a boss that would pay loadsa money for expensive kit, for me try out - woah! Now THAT would be magical. But I don't, so I can't - hey . . h-o . . .

Grazie

Byron K wrote on 2/17/2013, 4:26 AM

Grazie thanks for sharing.
I just used NB ColorFast on another project w/ wedding footage shot by a family member who wants me to make a video of the wedding. (Which basically means make a video that fixes the crappy photos and videos I took.) LOL!

I wasn't at the wedding and didn't do any of the camera work so most of the shots are shaky, over exposed, under exposed, tilted, not centered and the camera's audio doesn't even line up with the videos that were taken. (Never use a Fuji P&S cam!)

Here are 3 sample clips of one of the over exposed shots that I was desperately trying to get some blue in the sky for one of the closing scenes. NB ColorFast really made it quick and easy to get what I was going for.

-First clip is the original photo
-2nd clip is what I was going to settle on using Vegas' FX
-3rd clip is adding ColorFast to pull more blue in the sky and water and fade to dark sunset.

This is definitely an effect I'll be using quite a bit. (;

farss wrote on 2/17/2013, 5:35 AM

"So would you LIKE to pay more?"

Not about the money so much, more about having too many choices.
Even the expensive kit that I do have a boss that does buy.... for me to try out....
Don't worry, I'm sure I'll recover, gotta get me knee fixed first, not having a whole lotta luv for doctors at the moment.

Bob.

Grazie wrote on 2/17/2013, 6:11 AM

A TRULY BIG MAN HUG FROM ALL OF US VEGHEADS.

Mind the knees!!!

larry-peter wrote on 2/17/2013, 12:17 PM

Hey Grazie.
I think I see exactly what you're getting at, and it's the reason I went for this plug also. In a situation where I have budget, time and control, I'll take every step possible to avoid the use of many of the inexpensive, magic, post-production tools that are available to us.
Low-budget industrials are, unfortunately, a substantial portion of my work and with the number of shots I'm expected to cover in a day - almost always with available lighting - the ability to extract the maximum dynamic range out of every shot is key. On these jobs, "fixing" shots usually ends up taking a higher priority than aesthetics - although I try to put at least some attention on that aspect as well. This plug-in is a good, fast "fixer", with the ability to add some aesthetic value in a minimal amount of time.

Larry

kplo wrote on 2/18/2013, 12:06 PM

Grazie,
What format is it in? Usually, I can play just about anything.

Ken

Grazie wrote on 2/18/2013, 12:44 PM

Er...... Hold on I'll tell yah....

Grazie wrote on 2/18/2013, 1:56 PM

Here's MediaInfo:-

Format : Windows Media
File size : 40.3 MiB
Duration : 50s 133ms
Overall bit rate mode : Constant
Overall bit rate : 6 749 Kbps
Maximum Overall bit rate : 6 764 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2013-02-16 21:23:03.254
SfOriginalFPS : 239760

Video
ID : 2
Format : VC-1
Format profile : MP@HL
Codec ID : WMV3
Codec ID/Info : Windows Media Video 9
Codec ID/Hint : WMV3
Description of the codec : Windows Media Video 9 - Professional
Duration : 50s 133ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 6 519 Kbps
Width : 1 440 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.175
Stream size : 39.0 MiB (97%)
Language : English (GB)

Audio
ID : 1
Format : WMA
Format version : Version 2
Codec ID : 161
Codec ID/Info : Windows Media Audio
Description of the codec : Windows Media Audio 9.2 - 192 kbps, 48 kHz, stereo (A/V) 1-pass CBR
Duration : 50s 133ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Stream size : 1.15 MiB (3%)
Language : English (GB)

kplo wrote on 2/19/2013, 1:42 AM

Standard WMV file. Media Player should play it fine. Windows isn't recognizing the protocol...I'll try it on another machine.
Thanks, Grazie.
Ken

Grazie wrote on 2/19/2013, 2:06 AM

I used the SONY WM Template, so I guessed it would/should work.

Grazie

kairosmatt wrote on 2/19/2013, 8:40 AM

Thanks for posting this Grazie, inadvertently its given me stuff to think about-

I have been working hard to bring out the shadows in lots of my shots, because I feel that there are details there that I want to see (like your crows on the bench that you can't see w/o colorfast on). But overall, I actually preferred your non-CF shots-crows be damned!

It makes me want to go back and look at some of the shots I've 'fixed' with new eyes.

kairosmatt